Venting

I have got no fucking clue why Americans equate George Bush with success in the war on terrorism.

I just read a Washington Post report on how terrorism ranks as the number one issue in New Jersey this year. A woman, quoted in the article, said "He's very strong, and there's no 'maybe' in his voice."

Another man said that he respected Bush when, "as the towers fell" the President made his mind up to "get the terrorists where they live."

The one statistic that never fails to floor my English co-workers is the high number of US citizens who still believes that there is a link between Saddam Hussein and the 9/11 attacks. As one colleague put it, "if Saddam Hussein caught the scent of an al-Qaeda operative in Iraq he would have castrated him and eaten his testicles for breakfast." That is something that all Briton believe, not because they are weirdo, lefty liberals, but because they are sane, rational people with a (more) balanced media telling them about the world.

But, the link between Iraq and 9/11 has been forged, never to be broken in the public's mind.

That still doesn't explain why American's are willing to let Bush off the hook for Afghanistan, where the terrorists actually do live! I think John Kerry should have mentioned bin Laden's name at every engagement.

Why should Republicans be the only guys to capitalize on the fear of another attack? Invoking ObL isn't just useless scare mongering. He was the one responsible and he is still at large. Bush must be held accountable for that.

But the people who put Bush on a pedestal don't see any of the wider picture. Instead of less nuclear proliferation, the world has more (Iran and North Korea either have, or are planning on developing nuclear weapons; Libya is the only country to disarm). Around the world, under Bush's watch, there have been major terrorist incidents in Russia, Turkey, Spain, Indonesia, India and Pakistan and Israel. Bush is not responsible for these events, but I list them to show that terrorist activity is not any less today than it was when he started his war on terrorism.

Afghanistan is in shambles again, despite having their "election." Heroine production is on the rise, apparently the Taliban are regrouping and war lords are posturing themselves to take over the country.

Mission accomplished!

But, Joe Middle America will always stand tall for the President. The idiocy of the American public is really getting to me.

After a while, one has to move beyond criticising an administration and start criticising those who buy it.